​We have two weeks of our school year left, nine days. Summer is almost here! One would think that I would be feeling only happy thoughts that vacation is only 9 days away.

I will say that yes, I am excited that summer is coming. It's a time to recharge my batteries for the fall. To do the millions of things on my to-do list. The list that kept growing longer with every, "Oh, that can wait, I need to finish this for school." That room that needs painting, the closet that I need to clean out, seeing friends more often, projects that I haven't started, the stack of novels waiting to be read! I am excited to be heading to the beach on vacation with my family, feeling the sand and ocean between my toes! I am also looking forward to one of my side jobs, working the edcamp at the annual California Teachers Summit. It is one of my passions and I am excited to be part of this amazing event. Summer is indeed a wonderful time of the year!​

I will not lie, summer is great. However there is a downside to the end of the school year. To be perfectly honest, there have already been tears. Yes, you read that correctly, TEARS. No, I am not talking about my first graders. Their teacher has been getting teary eyed!​​You might find it unbelievable. You might think it's not true. You might even think I'm a bit nuts. Well, I am! I am crazy about my students. Crazy proud! Crazy happy! My students all have a place in my heart, we are a family. It has been wonderful watching them grow, gain confidence, be goofy, and show how large their hearts are. It is a great feeling to come to work and see their happy smiles and sparkling eyes. I love their excitement when they discover a new talent, their pride in their hard earned accomplishments. The compassion and love that they show friends in need has filled my heart with love. Over this past school year, we have grown to be a family. Now my littles are ready to move on. I wish them all the best, a future with lots of love and hope. They will always have a place in my heart and a hug ready for them. We will enjoy our last few weeks together: learning, giggling, and being a family. If you happen to see me all teary eyed, just know it's because I will miss seeing these smiling little faces everyday. It has been wonderful being a part of their lives and helping them learn and grow!Shoot for the moon little ones, shoot for the moon!

Travel back in time to the summer of 2015. I attended CUE ROCKSTAR Chico and was completely blown away by what I learned. I participated in sessions on coding, blogging, YouTube in the classroom, using green screen technology in the classroom, and several others. It was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by passionate teachers who were excited to be learning and sharing ways both teachers and students could use technology in the classroom. At the end of the three days my mind was blown and I had many new ideas for my first graders when school began in the fall.

Gridley Unified School District

Gridley Black Label was EPIC!

Last September, I was asked to present at our district's CUE ROCKSTAR Black Label professional development event. I wasn't sure if it was my cup of tea. I had never led professional development sessions before. What if no one came? What if I rambled on and on (a realistic possibility)? What if people didn't learn anything new from my session? What if? What if? What if? Lot's of negative what if questions ran through my head.Then I began thinking about more positive what if questions. What if we actually had a professional developemnt day that was based on hands on learning? What if teachers had time to collaborate with each other? What if I was able to share my love of teaching kids to code? What if I stepped out of my comfort zone and did something completely new? What if my actions matched the words I tell my students on a daily basis? "Try something new. It's okay not to know all the answers. It's okay not to be perfect at something. Failure and missteps are how we learn." Thanks to an amazing group of CUE ROCKSTAR presenters, our Gridley Black Label was a success! Thank you to Brian Briggs for being my mentor through the process. And a huge shout out to Gridley's own Laurie York and Diana McDowell for hashing out ideas, giving awesome feedback, and just being awesome co-workers!

I attended Fall CUE 2015 in Napa, California and came away with more great knowledge and even more awesome additions to my PLN! The one thing I wish I had seen more of, sessions aimed at primary grades. More and more K-2 classrooms are getting devices and teachers are holding them up and asking, "What do I do with this?" Fast forward to December 2015. CUE put out the faculty call for the 2016 CUE ROCKSTAR season. Should I try? I've only presented in front of our district's teachers. Do other teachers want to know what I know? Again, Negative Nelly was making herself at home in my head. Not for long! I decided to jump in and put my name in the hat. Now it was a waiting game. In February CUE held its very own CUE ROCKSTAR Draft Day. I was so excited when I was one of the people selected as faculty for the Chico CUE ROCKSTAR!

The three days of CUE ROCKSTAR Chico were an amazing beginning to my summer! The participants in my sessions had very positive comments and shared many new ways to use augmented reality and storytelling apps in their classrooms. Their students are going to love all of it! I really enjoyed sharing my love of coding with early elementary teachers. They are going to have so much fun watching their little ones collaborate, problem-solve, and create. I was being honest with the participants in my sessions when I mentioned that I learned so much from them! They were taking the knowledge that they learned in my sessions and immediately thinking of ways for their students to use it when school began! YES!!!Thanks to all the Chico CUE ROCKSTAR faculty, it was great getting to meet all of you!

​Is that the end of my story? No, only the beginning. I will be back in Chico as a faculty member for their district Black Label event. Then it's Fall Cue! Hope to see you there! Or find me on twitter @sallenzoom​

My first graders and I have been learning how to code with the app Scratch Jr. Scratch Jr. is an early coding app aimed at 5-7 year olds. It is a free app available on both Google Play and The App Store. The developers also have activities, curriculum and assessments available on their website ScratchJr.org

Scratch Jr. allows students to create stories with characters and backgrounds using programming blocks. Students connect the programming blocks together to create a script that will tell their characters what to do. The script is then tested by the student and changed until the desired results are achieved.

﻿I began our dive into the world of coding by printing out the programming block images available on the Scratch Jr. website. You may find them here.﻿ Our first coding lesson was held outside without an iPad in hand. My students were my characters and had to move according to what blue movement block I held up. It was a fun and active way of introducing the meaning of the movement blocks.

The interface guide (available here) has been very useful when parents have worked with the students during our guided reading/center time.

My first graders quickly picked up how to choose a background, pick a character, delete a character, change the background, and began writing programming scripts. We have only scratched the surface of what children can do on this app. The problem solving and critical thinking that I have seen from my students has been amazing. For example, a few students wanted to make their character do a cartwheel. They wrote and tested several scripts until I heard a loud shout of triumph. They had figured out the movement blocks needed for that type of action. I am also impressed by the team work and perseverance that my first graders have shown. They have learned that scripts do not usually work exactly the way you want them to the first time and that they need to analyze their programming to locate the error and make changes. This has also helped them to see mistakes as a way to learn, not as failure. A great lesson in itself.

My first graders shared their Scratch Jr. projects with their families during our Open House evening. I noticed that students needed more practice explaining what they were doing and why. I will be encouraging students to discuss their experiences with partners and with the entire class. Students will be sharing both things that worked and how they are trying to work out problems within their scripts.

The next step in our coding adventure will be using some of the activities that are available on the ScratchJr website. Each of the activities will help the students learn how to create new scripts for specific actions. You can find the downloadable activities here.